Just an Accident
by girl in the ironic mask
Summary: When House's newest patient is an old flame who was involved in a car accident, a seizure is to blame. But what gets blamed for the seizure? i do not own the rights to this showw!
1. Chapter 1: The Case

Chapter 1- The Case 

"Just shut the hell up, I don't want to hear it!" She could hardly be heard over the roar of her neighbor's lawn mowing. What is the deal with housing developments and perfect lawns? Liz couldn't grasp why they felt the need to impress, for god's sake, they are all friends. Well, until_ she_ showed up.

"OF COURSE YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY, YOU NEVER DO! ALL OF YOU ARE SELF-ABSORBED BITCHES ANYWAY!"

Andrew, Liz's husband, didn't understand why his wife hated the couple so much. They were never loud or rude, well unless Liz got involved. Sure they were new, but hey, everyone has to be at some point. Heck, he helped them move in while his wife was away. They really needed a hand, the poor man was handicapped.

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE? ALL YOU DO IS CAUSE PROBLEMS!" Damn lawnmowers always drove Liz insane, especially today.

"Honey just leave them alone, they didn't even do anything."

"Do you see the lawn?" Again with the lawns. "She drove right over it again. TORE UP THE WHOLE THING!" She would sue her neighbor if the woman wasn't a lawyer herself. 'She HAS to go,' Liz thought as her neighbors pulled out of their driveway and over her grass in their new BMW. Liz jumped into her car and angrily sped off after them.

Only 3 minutes later Andrew heard the screech of metal and the shriek of sirens. He didn't even put on shoes as he ran down the road and towards the wreck of the two cars. He couldn't see either woman in the crash, or the handicapped man either. With tears rolling down his cheeks, he could only kneel down on the hot asphalt and pray for their safety.


	2. Chapter 2: Intense

Through the shouting, crying, and flashing lights, two hospital beds were wheeled into the hospital.

Chase just rubbed his forehead as he stared at the mutilated body of the woman before him. She would probably make it, she did lose a lot of blood, more than enough to make her weak, but not kill her, he hoped. The second mangled mass of gauze was pushed into the room. Blood flowed through the cottony layers of the bandaging down though the sheets. Chase could not be so sure of her safety, but then again he couldn't even see her face, for that too was wrapped in gauze.

"House, you have a case," Cuddy announced throwing a stack of folders on the table in the hospital cafeteria. "Two arguing neighbors in a car crash. Both women in critical condition."

"Seeing as how they are in the ICU, shouldn't we send Chase? The _intensivist?_" Cuddy was wearing another low-cut top, so House was too distracted to really care about the case. "Is that really appropriate for work?"

"My face is up here. Look at it and read my lips. 'Take the case.' The one woman will only let _you_ take care of her. She says she knows you."

"If you wanted to have lunch with Wilson by yourself, tell me, you don't have to play these games." He bought Wilson lunch today, and they were enjoying an empty cafeteria, for once. "Besides, a lot of women know me. I'm just a pimp like that."

"What woman have you had recently, that didn't request you pay a tip?" This was the one day Wilson could enjoy his lunch without getting a patient call, and he had to get rid of one or both of them if he was going to take pleasure in it. "And since when do you use words like 'pimp'?"

Wilson was right, for once, House hadn't had a girlfriend in a long while. And the women he did have a relationship with still hated him. Breaking up relationships was not his_ forte_. He was almost afraid of the patient that came in, even though he didn't yet learn who it was.

"I really don't care how afraid of her you are." Cuddy didn't care about House's feelings at all. Did he have feelings? "You have to take the case or she'll die. She won't let ANYONE else care for more than changing her bandages which won't save her life."

"Fine. I'll go, but I won't like it!" House sighed. He wasn't a people person. Especially if they were people he knew.

The glass door slid open dramatically as House entered the ICU. The nurse sighed just as dramatically at his antics as she slowly unwrapped the gauze from the injured woman's face.

"Look I may be good in bed, but that doesn't mean I'm a good doctor," he announced to the woman laying in the hospital bed staring at him. "Who are you anyway? I'm so popular with the ladies; I just can't remember them all."

"I'm Liz…but, I … umm… didn't ask for you. Umm. She did." Liz gestured to the bandaged mass. This man scared her; Liz had no clue why her neighbor would want to be cared for by this doctor.

"Popular with the ladies? I thought you were a doctor not a pimp." A familiar set of brown eyes poking through the gauze tore open a hole in his heart, one that hadn't been opened in a long time.

House stared incredulously. He whispered only one word.

"Stacie?"


	3. Chapter 3: An Old Flame

"Chase," Greg smiled, throwing files onto the glass-topped table. "You have a case."

"No, you do." Chase glanced at the name and knew why House wanted to be rid of it. "I'm not gunna mess with Cuddy. She gave _you_ the case, remember? Besides, I already saw Stacie, and she wouldn't let me do anything besides examine her."

"Stacie is in the ICU?" Cameron and Foreman asked together.

"Why do you always have a problem with keeping your mouth shut?!" House didn't want anyone to know why he was trying to dump the patient, but now that everyone knew who it was, he was stuck with her.

"Why is this considered a case anyway? It's a simple car accident, not unusual enough to get your attention; is it?" Cameron was curious. To House, it wasn't a case unless someone was literally sick, not injured.

"Well Stacie is the case, not Lilly."

"LIZ!" Chase shouted. House wasn't good with people, but he could at least remember their name.

"Whatever," House muttered. "_Liz_ was just P-Oed and that's why she was in the accident, but according to the police Stacie's car swerved towards the other car, without slowing down. It's not a usual reaction, and looking at the skid marks on the road before the accident, I'm thinking uncontrollable shaking at the wheel."

"You mean a seizure?" Cameron asked.

"Wow! You should be a doctor. Yes, of course I'm thinking seizure. I was just making it simple for you to understand"

"Why are you only _thinking_ this, shouldn't she know? Was Stacie the only one in the car at the time?" Foreman thought House would be already on top of it, as usual.

"Already checked. She blacked out right before they hit, no memory of it, and the only witness died in the crash."

"_Witness?_" Chase asked. "Who was in the car with her?"

"Her husband."

"You mean Mark's dead!?!" Cameron was totally shocked. She had only met him a few times, and even though he and House butted heads, he was a good man.

"No, her _other_ husband died." House wasn't just impatient today; he was stressed about caring for Stacie. "So, ideas people."

"Well, besides seizures do we have any other symptoms?" Chase ventured. It was next to impossible to diagnose someone based on one symptom.

"Everything else had to be thrown out the window; about 90 could be blamed on the accident." This was just exasperating. House shouldn't have to explain it all to them.

"Head injury?" Foreman guessed.

"That _would_ make sense, but she had a seizure before the accident." House couldn't take their stupidity. "Ok, ill give you one more clue just because you are having a hard time guessing. Her medical history says no prescription drugs."

"Alcohol withdrawal." Wilson walked in the room.

"Stacie is not an alcoholic," House stated with certainty.

"Not anymore. Besides how would you know, you pushed her away? _Causing her to drink!_" Wilson sneered as he walked out the door.

"Ok, anyone with _good_ ideas?"

"Well, epilepsy is known for seizures. Maybe encephalitis since she hasn't shown earlier symptoms," Cameron told them.

"You never think outside the box, but give her an EEG anyway. Chase, prep her."

XXX

Chase nervously walked between the sliding glass doors. He had no idea if Stacie would allow him to check her. This could go interesting fast. "I need to prep you for an EEG; can you just lean back and I'll administer…"

"I WANT HOUSE TO TAKE CARE OF ME!" Stacie screamed before Chase could even finish his sentence, shoving his arm away.

"But I have to prep you, and then Cameron needs to give you an EEG before House could see you."

"THEN LET ME DIE!"

"Cameron will be here in a moment. If you don't comply we will sedate you."

"JUST GET THE HELL OUT!" Stacie grabbed her bedpan and hurled it, just missing Chase's head.

Chase ducked then yelled into the hallway, "Get me a sedative. NOW!"


	4. Chapter 4: Moody

"So, Lauren wasn't the only one who was P-Oed at the time of the accident." House studied the whiteboard. Only two symptoms were written on it. Seizure. Irritable mood. Nothing.

"LIZ! Her name is LIZ! Anyway couldn't it be TSS?" Chase asked. "That could also explain her passing out, and the pain that wouldn't be caused by the accident. And her menstruation would cause the moodiness."

"Then Chase, go check her hoo-hoo for a tampon," House said snickering. "Any others?" Chase walked out of the room before House could send him on another _errand_.

"Hypoglycemia," Foreman said. "Some hypoglycemic patients are irritable."

"Don't you think she would notice if she was hypoglycemic?" Cameron wondered, "And besides people with epilepsy could be just as moody."

"I find it odd that an allergist thinks she knows more about a brain disorder than a neurologist," Foreman smartly retorted.

"I think," House had to break them up, "that both of you are being moody. Since we already did and EEG we should test Foreman's little diagnosis. Then I can prove you both wrong."

Cameron and Foreman could only stare as House walked off to Cuddy's office.

XXX

"Here we go again," Chase muttered walking past Liz's bed, syringe in hand, readying to sedate Stacie. Liz stared at him with silent reassurance. She was already healing, and almost well enough to stand and move. He raised his voice enough for her to hear him through the curtain surrounding her bed. "Stacie? It's Chase. I have to check you for the possibility of TSS. I will tranquilize you if you attempt to harm me or any of the staff. Do you hear me?"

"Of course I hear you. And you can come in." She sounded too calm to be the same Stacie that was there before. Chase nervously pushed back the curtain to find Stacie sitting there silently laying back. Chase quickly looked, but saw only that there was nothing.

"Have you always worn pads?"

"Yes, they are just so much easier," Stacie could have told them without sending in someone to check. It wasn't as if she would lie about something like that. Weird.

"Who gave Stacie the anesthetic?" Chase questioned a nurse.

"No one. Were we supposed to?" Nobody was told about the patients in room 3 of the ICU. They were off limits to all but a few nurses after the whole bedpan incident.

"Well someone did. She stared at me and smiled; definitely not the same Stacie that was hurling things at me."

"Ask House. You never know what _he_ might've done," a passing nurse snorted.

"So true," the first nurse smirked.

"So true," Chase agreed.

XXX

"What did u do to Stacie?" Chase walked into Cuddy's office, staring at House. House was the only one who could have, _would have,_ done something to her. As soon as he tore his glare away from the doctor, he saw Cuddy was staring at House, just as pissed. "What's wrong?"

Cuddy spoke to him angrily, not once taking her eyes off House, "He did nothing. He was supposed to do something. Stacie is_ his_ case. He just dumped her on you."

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH STACIE?" House shouted over them. Maybe they would have more to work on besides just two symptoms. "I need more symptoms."

"Scratch off irritable mood," Chase sighed. He knew how hard it was to work off two symptoms. "Try mood swings."

"House go check her. NOW!" Cuddy wasn't going to take anymore of his avoiding her.

House, unable to take anymore of Cuddy's incessant badgering, walked into the hallway. Stacie wasn't _that _high on his to do list. Or maybe he just didn't want her to be. Was he pushing her away? Again? What was happening to him?


	5. Chapter 5: Feeling

Downing half of his bottle of Vicodin, House nervously walked down the halls towards the ICU. He looked to his left and saw the other woman who was involved in the crash walk slowly towards him. What was her name? Lisa? Laura? She looked better, but obviously in pain and this after almost two full days here. He meant to look away and walk on, yet her slow shuffle actually made him fear for Stacie. She was injured far worse than Liz. Liz? That was it. Was Liz's pain actually causing him to feel worse for Stacie condition itself, or had it rekindled his feelings for her? He was jolted out of his thoughts as he approached room 3.

"Good luck with that bitch, doctor," Liz whispered, as she continued her slow shuffle down the hall, "you'll need it." House was beginning to like her. Maybe if Stacie moved out, he would move in next door to this little firecracker. Maybe if she makes it.

"Stacie?" House whispered.

"Yes, Gregory?" came her voice from behind the curtain.

House straightened up and tried to calm himself. "You know nobody calls me that," he stated in a tone that suggested uncertainty, as he pulled aside the fabric that surrounded her bed. When House saw the fragile body curled up under the blue hospital blanket, he didn't know if he wanted to cringe, or cry.

"What's wrong with you?" Stacie giggled. "I'm the one injured here, remember?" She lifted her left arm, purple with bruises, but still out of a cast, and put it on House's shoulder, pulling his face close to hers. "I know you never liked my husband and me in turn for that, but he's dead now, and… and… I want you back." She pulled him onto her frail lips and kissed him. House attempted to be delicate, but her fervency kept him from pulling back.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" House gasped as he pulled away from her pale lips.

Stacie began to tremble and cry. "I… I just don't know. Maybe I'm crazy, or maybe I'm just sick, or maybe I'm going to die. I have no clue. But… that… that's why I'm here, right? That's why _you're_ here," she stammered, staring at him with glassy eyes. What on earth is wrong with her? House slowly pried her delicate hand from his shoulder and stumbled over his cane while he staggered to his office.

XXX

"What happened to you?" Cameron gaped at the disheveled doctor.

His curt and simple answer was enough to turn the heads of those crowded around the glass top table. "The bitch."

"Is Stacie toying with your emotions?" Wilson laughed at House. The glare from the frustrated doctor was enough to shut everyone up.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" he muttered under his breath. "She acts like she wants me. She acts like doesn't care that her husband is dead."

Wilson played the House for a moment, "What if she doesn't? What if she wants YOU?"

"She hasn't had a seizure since she came into the clinic." He sighed, and erased the symptom. This threw off all of their tests. Chase, not wanting to work with simply one warning sign of something possibly serious, took the dry erase marker and wrote 'seizure?'

"How the hell do we work with a question mark?" Foreman narrowed his eyes.

"How the hell do we work with one symptom?" Cameron stated with concern. Stacie was a personal friend and, for Allison, it almost became a personal case. She couldn't just discount something that may be relevant.

"HOW THE HELL DO WE WORK WITH YOU TWO CONSTANTLY ARGUING?" House shouted, infuriated at the frivolity of the disagreement. "She thinks she's crazy." House sighed disgustedly at the white board and scowled.

Wilson hated that look. He scoffed with sarcasm, "Maybe you should just cross off all the symptoms and redo her entire history, I mean it's not like she's goin' anywhere. Start with a clean slate—whiteboard."

One swipe. "Good idea. Cameron, redo her history. Foreman, redo her tests, except the EEG… and the… ahh, never mind. Just sit in here and look pretty. Chase, you redo her hoo-hoo."

Cameron and Chase stalked the halls to room 3, again. When they opened the doors, Liz, eyes twinkling excitedly, pointed to the other bed. The other, _empty_ bed.


End file.
